An official with Barack Obama's campaign tells The Brody File that beginning next week the campaign will start an official faith tour in key battleground states called "Barack Obama: Faith, Family and Values Tour". The subheading of the tour is as follows: "Voting ALL Our Values"

The Brody File is told that top faith surrogates will hit the trail for Obama. Some of those high profile figures include Former Indiana Congressman and pro-life Democrat Tim Roemer, Catholic legal scholar Doug Kmiec, and author Donald Miller.

Some of Kmiec's thoughts on the gays, after the jump.

This is from his endorsement of Proposition 8 in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Beyond correcting the court's disregard of the separation of powers, insisting upon preserving the link between marriage and procreation: 1) promotes the orderly continuation of the species; 2) avoids the uncertainties of single-gender effects on children (most parents readily recognize the distinctive contributions of male and female in child rearing); and 3) takes respectful account of the difficulties of accommodating religious freedom that arise subsequent to the legal acceptance of same-sex marriage. Oddly, and incompletely, the California Supreme Court managed to ignore these important issues in its 170-plus page opinion.

The proponents of same-sex marriage insist that inventing gay and lesbian marriage harms no one, but the above concerns suggest otherwise. Moreover, it overlooks the national and global decline in fertility, which threatens the economies of Europe and contributes to the weakness of our own. To say, as its advocates do, that the availability of same-sex marriage is not the principal cause of this decline in terms of absolute numbers is a fair point, but giving state approval to non-procreative marriage cannot be denied as a contributing cause to the decline of families with natural children.

Separating marriage from procreation may also have other remote, but frightening, ill consequences. Society should be skeptical of wider use of asexual procreation. An earlier dark moment in U.S. history employed eugenics to forcibly sterilize the mentally disabled. The push for artificial wombs and the genetic manipulation of intelligence already peppers scientific literature - a push that would no doubt grow, accommodating even the minimal same-sex desire for simulating natural child birth - claimed to be of interest for 20-30 percent of same-sex couples. When carefully assessed, the acquisition of unnatural reproductive means often advances the interests of the very affluent through a libertarian exercise that would threaten all hope of democratic equality.

You can also expect a soon to be named Evangelical North Carolina (red state) Congressman to travel the country as well. All of these surrogates are well versed and comfortable talking faith and politics. This is clearly a sign by the Obama campaign that they plan to target red state and swing state moderates.

A campaign official tells me the tour is designed to feature the "strong faith and values" of both Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden. Issues will range from healthcare to poverty to the economy to climate change to yes, even abortion. The campaign understands tough questions may come their way but they're ready with an answer of how they can reduce abortions.[...]

This tour will last about a month or so and will be in a town hall format where these speakers and others will give their talks in community centers and gyms and then take questions afterwards.

Among the states on the list are Colorado Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin. Remember, the Obama campaign believes the White Catholic vote is very much in play especially in places like Pennsylvania. Plus, while conservative Evangelicals are not going to head Obama's way, the campaign believes they can win over those moderate and liberal Evangelicals, Catholics and even some conservative mainline Protestants.

Look, getting conservative Evangelicals was always a tough sell for the Obama campaign and it became much tougher after the Palin pick. But the Obama campaign understands that most people in this country consider their faith integral to their lives. The values and religion talk resonates not just with conservative Evangelicals but a whole range of people out there. It means different things to different people. Obama wants to tap into that and also stay true to the fact that his faith has been central to his life.

There isn't a problem with Obama trying to get white evangelical voters. And there isn't a problem with a possibly insane fundamentalist backing Obama.

What I do have a problem with here is that Kmiec's being paraded around to bolster Obama's religion cred, and the fact that he's a homophobe is part of how he sells that credibility. While it's definitely a compelling story that someone who worked for Reagan, and later the most cynically homophobic campaign of the primary season, telling people of faith to vote for Obama, the equation that they're setting up is obvious: faith means homophobia.

I know, I know, this election's important, it's good to have a big tent, etc, but we are talking about the rights and value of a significant number of Americans here. Kmiec's coming from the fundamentalest of the fundamentalists, and I just don't see why giving the "gay marriage will destroy western civilization" sort any more credibility than they have helps out.

There are other ways for Obama to talk about his faith, other surrogates who can do that talking, but apparently Obama's going with Kmiec.

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Man, he's not even in the White House yet and already he's sold us out! As a member of the two minorities supposedly least trusted by the great broad-minded American public (LGBT and atheist), this doesn't leave me feeling too hopeful about change, Barry.

Very few politicians or political parties are going to trumpet their bigotry but you can get a very clear picture of what they’re up to by their actions. And ultimately it’s not a question of personal bigotry, although both Obama and McCain display plenty of that in their porcine opposition to same sex marriage.

Rather it's a political question, a question of power and policy. Both candidates pander to bigots. Obama’s done it all along and this is just one more example. Consequently the evangelical swine vote is swinging back and forth in a major reversal of Roves traditional lock on that voter segment. Whoever wins is going to be owned by the bigots, not by us.

The problem is this. The strategy of pandering leads inevitably to the policy of bigotry and the proof is all around us. It was the Democrats, not the Republicans who refused to repeal Clintons DADT and DOMA. It was the Democrats, not the Republicans who gutted ENDA and tossed it and the rest of our agenda in the garbage. The DNC is run by bigots just as bad as those in the RNC. In fact their former GLBT outreach director is suing them for homophobic personnel policies. And he’ll win bigtime. If the Republicans are open about their mean-spirited bigotry then at least they’re honest and we know where they stand. And by his actions we know where Obama stands because he flat out refuses to allow any mention of us or our names in his platform.

If you want to talk about real bigotry consider this: the Republicans were just along for the ride during the last two years as the Democratic bus ran us over, backed up and then did it again. And again. DOMA, DADT. ENDA, hate crimes… the list goes on and on.

Insteads of buying a pig in a poke we ought to concentrate on building a massive militant GLBT left to force our agenda on Congress, the White House and the courts, no matter which party is in power?

Vote for the union led and financed US Labor Party. If not vote for socialist or communist candidates as a protest or join the scores of millions who sit it out because they’re smart enough to refuse to vote for the lesser bigot, the lesser warmonger or the lesser evil. And don’t forget to vote against all the anti-GLBT referenda and initiatives.

Doubtless he would flog people for divorcing as well while overlooking the percentage of children born and reared by single heterosexual parents. Procreation is already beyond a marriage issue.

This is very disappointing and a great news story. Just the sort of crap the media will pick up on in the small markets. Let us send emails protesting this to the Obama campaign, hit the town meetings with questions of our own, and force the agenda while letting Obama and Co. know in advance we are coming. This is a legitimate question of inclusion that could easily cost him more than he gains. It also speaks volumes to teaching sexual repression until marriage. If his central argument is White Racism (or supremacy as a species of human) he does not belong in the Obama campaign in any capacity.